Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl

Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl (between 1568 and 1580 – 1648) was a Castizo Novohispanic historian.

Born between 1568 and 1580, Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl was a direct descendant of Ixtlilxochitl I and Ixtlilxochitl II, who had been tlatoque (rulers) of Texcoco. He was also the great-great-grandson of Cuitláhuac (Cuitláhuac was the eleventh son of the ruler Axayacatl and a younger brother of Moctezuma II, the previous ruler of Tenochtitlan.), the penultimate Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan and victor of la Noche Triste. On the death of his eldest brother in 1602, he was declared by a royal decree heir to the titles and possessions of his family. The property, however, does not appear to have been large, as he complained in 1608 of the deplorable state of misery to which the posterity of the kings of Texcoco were reduced.

He was a distinguished student at the Imperial Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, where he was educated in both Nahuatl and Spanish. He lived in San Juan Teotihuacán from 1600 to 1604.

In 1608, he was employed as interpreter by the viceroy, which appointment he owed to his learning and skill in explaining the hieroglyphic pictures of the ancient Mexicans. He had also a profound knowledge of the traditions of his ancestors which were preserved in the national songs, and "was intimate with several old Native Americans famous for their knowledge of Mexican history." He turned his own labors and those of his friends to account in composing works on the history of his country. They remained unknown until their importance was revealed by Clavijero, and afterward by Humboldt. The former says that they were written in Spanish by command of the viceroy, and were deposited in the library of the Jesuits in Mexico. There were copies also in other libraries.

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